He received a “Labor Backbone Award” at the Napa-Solano CLC Spring Fling on Friday at Mare Island.

Corey receiving the award from the Napa-Solano CLC Executive Director Jon Riley, Assemblymember Jim Fraizer and other guests.

A close up of the award, congratulations!!

Mike Thompson addressing the crowd

Thanks to Richard Bammer for the great story!

VTA member David Hawkins, a longtime world history and government teacher at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School was named Vacaville Unified Teacher of the Year.

On this day, the California Day of the Teacher, Dave Hawkins, the 2014 Vacaville Unified Teacher of the Year, is already looking ahead to improving his daily classroom lessons for the coming year.

“I’m constantly assessing what I’m doing — it never ends,” said the Warwick, N.Y., native, a 10th- and 12th-grade modern world history and government teacher at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School. “It’s just being professional.”

He believes this form of self-checking is what led a district panel to tap him as the top VUSD educator this year.

A longtime staff member at the Bella Vista Road campus, he pointed to his “track record” of student achievement, including his students’ solid performances on state assessment tests, as a measure of his effectiveness.

Still, “It’s not all about the grade,” said Hawkins, 50, who is married to a school teacher and the father of five children. “It’s about student growth and confidence, learning to collaborate. It’s really more than about getting good grades.”

To read the rest of the story, please go here:

[gview file=”http://www.vacateachers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Rep-Council-Agenda-May-2o.pdf”]